Protected: March 2023 APR rewards catalogs
Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, Patreon catalog
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Mar 302023
Mar 282023
The first US Aerospace Projects in *years* is now available. Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be
US VTOL Projects #3
US VTOL Projects #3 is now available (see HERE for the entire series). Issue #2 includes:
- Lockheed CL-579: An optionally-manned “communications satellite” for after WWIII
- Vanguard Model 18: A short range passenger transport from the 60s with slightly unusual wings
- Hiller STORC: A helicopter that could convert into a conventional aircraft for long-range ferry flights
- North American Rockwell NR-356 Sea Control Fighter: The design that led to the failed XFV-12A
- Bell D181: One of the first VTOL “assault transports”
- Hiller Anti-Submarine Warfare Drone Tailsitter: An unmanned pulsejet-powered torpedo-launcher
- Gates Twinjet: An ill-timed executive transport helicopter
- McDonnell Douglas VT107-4-4I: A short-range VTOL jetliner from the early 70s
While this issue covers the usual eight designs, note that it’s about 50% longer than similar, earlier issues. The delay in publication was due in large part to working on several book… and working on several books seems to have led me to be more verbose in my descriptions. So hopefully this means a better product!
USVP #3 can be downloaded as a PDF file for only $5.25:
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Mar 252023
After a delay of several years, I’m back to working on my own little publications. Since the delay was caused by working on actual published *books,* I like to think that I’ve gotten a bit better. Thus the next issue of US VTOL projects has about twice the text of the prior issue, and the diagrams are a bit better. To get best use of the diagrams, I’m reviewing how they are being incorporated into the final text. The link below is a test PDF with four pages… each page has the same illustration, but with variations in resolution, line weight, etc. I’m interested in what looks “best.” So take a look and let me know which page – if any – looks best on screen, and if possible printed out.
Mar 132023
Circa 1980 Lockheed jumped on board the “X-Wing” bandwagon. For those unfortunate enough not to have been graced to grow up in the 80’s, the X-Wing was a concept for a four-bladed helicopter where the rotors were rigid and could be stopped in flight, turning into two forward swept and two aft-swept wings (see Aerospace Projects Review issue V5N6 for a whole fat article on the concept). one of the Lockheed concepts that was publicized at the time was a one-man research/proof of concept vehicle, smaller than a Bell Cobra. I’ve got fair to middling diagrams and data on it, but what I don’t have is a designation. Which is terribly frustrating because I’m convinced that, many years ago, I *read* a designation for it, CL-something, decided “that’s interesting information, I shall surely remember where I read that for future reference,” and have never been able to find it again.
ARRRRgh.
Anyway, here’s some art of the thing.
Mar 122023
My preference with the cyanotype diagrams is to not tinker with the actual image other than the needs of cleaning them up. However, in a few cases the diagrams are such that they make inconvenient fits, or could be made into convenient sizes… or need additional stuff added to them to flesh them out. One such case is the Aerojet Sea Dragon launch vehicle. The diagrams I have come from reports, rather than blueprints; this stripped them of the usual data blocks, and left them with just the diagrams. Putting the external profile next to the internal profile gives an aspect ratio that is *almost* perfect to fit within an off-the-shelf 11/75X36 inch frame. I need to do a bit more to add a bit of something to the blank spaces.
The question here is whether the cyanotype-buying public would rather have this formatted to display horizontally as shown here, or vertically?
As an aside, I just noticed that the original GIF that I’d put together (for APR issue V4N6) was dated as March 9, 2003, just over twenty years ago. I posted the full-rez diagram on my website many, many years ago; since then it has filtered out into the wider world, such as HERE, HERE and HERE.
Mar 102023
I will be posting some more cyanotype blueprints to ebay in the coming days. These were made from old transparencies I’d had made prior to the move from Utah. But I also hope to have some “brand new” cyanotypes in the near-ish future. The transparent film remains astonishingly elusive; two separate companies are trying to obtain it… and have been for a few months now. Every other print shop in the area has flat refused to try. A print shop a few hundred miles away made a few transparencies for me a few months back; I just sent them files to have a few more made. With luck they’ll come through. I have a *bunch* more I’d like to have done. Here are what I recently sent off:
Martin XB-51. The original print was 1/40 scale; this blueprint will be 1/72 scale.
The Avro “Arrow” structural layout.
Two sheets from NASA illustrating the Saturn V. One sheet is very likely more interesting than the other, so what I might end up doing is ebaying the two sheets and cataloging just the one.
The US-1205 and UA-1207 solid rocket motors for the Titan IIIC and IIIM, respectively. I have the originals of these framed and hanging on my wall; conveniently, they fit in off-the-shelf 11.75X36 panorama frames that you can get at Hobby Lobby and the like. I will probably tinker with some of the other blueprints that are *close* to this size to massage them to fit into that frame. Because as awesome as the prints are on their own, they’re spectacular framed.
I have also sent a revised version of my SR-71 CAD diagrams to be re-printed. The first print’s lines came in too light/fine. Live and learn…
Mar 062023
An interesting CGI video depicting three sizes of folding rotor tiltrotor High Speed VTOL from Bell. The concept is not new; actually building and flying one, though, would be. The designs shown are also not new; Bell has been floating them for a few years at least since late 2021.
https://view.ceros.com/bell-helicopter/hsvtol/p/1
Bell's High-Speed Vertical Takeoff and Landing (HSVTOL) https://t.co/4X6kFr38Sg pic.twitter.com/AdGoUTeaup
— 笑脸男人 (@lfx160219) March 6, 2023